Posts Tagged ‘Mauricio Funes’

El Salvador’s upcoming leadership change is being overshadowed by an unfolding corruption case involving one of the nation’s previous presidents, Francisco Flores (1999-2004), who has been “missing” since late January. Read the rest of this entry ?

The government of outgoing President Mauricio Funes appears to have turned its back once and for all on a controversial gang “truce” it helped broker more than two years ago. Read the rest of this entry ?

Less than three weeks before voters head to the polls to select a replacement for outgoing leader Mauricio Funes, El Salvador’s marathon presidential race remains too close to call. Read the rest of this entry ?

An intimidating pre-dawn attack on a San Salvador human rights organization has turned new attention to the still divisive legacy of El Salvador’s dozen-year civil war (1980-1992), which involved numerous abuses and atrocities, and resulted in an estimated 75,000 deaths and 8,000 disappearances. Read the rest of this entry ?

El Salvador’s female homicide figures have fallen sharply over the past year-and-a-half, thanks in large part to a tenuous government-backed gang truce that has cut overall murders by more than half. An encouraging sign for the country as a whole, the decrease is a particularly welcome development for the President Mauricio Funes administration, which has made women’s rights a policy priority with initiatives such the Ley Especial Integral para una Vida de Violencia (LEIV), a so-called “femicide” law that went into effect early last year, and Ciudad Mujer, a network of female-focused resource centers. Read the rest of this entry ?

An experimental “tregua” (truce) signed last year by rival street gangs has cut El Salvador’s horrific homicide numbers by more than half. A remarkable turnaround for a country that until recently had the world’s second highest per capita murder rate, the Salvadoran experience is inspiring similar efforts in Honduras. Guatemalan leaders are taking note as well, prompting some wishful thinkers to contemplate a “second peace” for Central America. Read the rest of this entry ?

Anti-mining activists have enjoyed a fair share of success in El Salvador, where a five-year-old moratorium on metals extraction continues to keep would be miners at bay. But rather than rest on their laurels, organizations like La Mesa Nacional frente a la Minería Metálica, an influential umbrella group, remain active and alert, lobbying hard for policy changes that, in their opinion, would better protect the country from the still clear and present danger posed by corporate mining interests. Read the rest of this entry ?